Monkeyin Around @ Al-Ain Zoo, Abu Dhabi

i love visits to a zoo. it gives my boys the chance to see animals LIVE, in the wild – well, more or less in the wild. at least it’s moving, and it’s not JUST a picture in a book!

last weekend we took the boys and my sister-in-law to al-ain zoo, in the capital of uae (united arab emirates) abu dhabi.

 

 

3 brothers?

 

• covers 988-acre of land (our zoo negara covers 110 acres of land)
• located in the foothills of the jebel hafeet mountains
• mainly comprises arabian antelopes and oryx, eland, gazelle, and lechwe
• also hosts the almost extinct white lion (less than 200 remain in the world)

 

 

i love these flintstone rock-thingys

 

 my sis-in-law teh and her nephews at the map of the zoo

 

 relaxing on a bed of grass, with the view of the towering giraffe and the hunky rhino!

 

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the first time i went to al-ain zoo was in 2008, right before i was due to deliver kahfi. i think i was 7-8 months pregnant, and still so eager to do a walk-about around a zoo!

 

 me with 2yr old khaleef circa november 2008

 

 

there’s a train going round the zoo that passes by the lion’s den, among others. you just have to wait at the few stations available, and show your entrance ticket.

also, as you can see from the picture above, there’s makeshift shades like this all over the zoo. in a country where it’s warm and mostly hot across the year, you really need these!

 

in this 2008 photograph we took, are these the same 3 brothers in the 2011 photographed above? haha.

 

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the zoo is open from 9am – 7pm in the evening

the tickets are priced at 15 dirhams for adults, 5 dirhams for children aged 3 to 12.

new borns and babies up till 24 months have free admission!

 

i’ve been to a number of zoos, and al-ain zoo is definitely one of the cleanest zoos we’ve been. you would know that a zoo is clean when you see the clean toilets, when you smell no stink, and when the walk-way is well-managed – clear of any leaves, puddles, trash!

the weather is great all across the UAE, so visit al-ain zoo while it’s still cool!

 

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and here’s one of the many gorgeous shot taken by my sister-in-law teh. words like desert safari, nairobi kenya and african wilderness come to mind, eh?

…and is that melman?

 

 

visit my sis-in-law’s posting on her trip to al-ain zoo here. there’s also a *noisy* video of her ‘debate’ with khaleef!